Fake Press Release Convinces Internet Banksy Was Arrested
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Image Source: Banksy Film
BY CHARESSE JAMES
ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT
The internet was up in arms Saturday when word spread of the alleged arrest of Britain's uber-famous street artist, Banksy, only to find out that the “news” was one giant hoax.
Rumors quickly circulated that the elusive England-based street artist, filmmaker and social activist, known to decorate walls around the world with his tongue-in-cheek social criticism, had not only been apprehended, but his real identity had also been uncovered.
So how did this happen? Well, it all started with a press release.
This press release in fact — originally published on the press release distribution site PRLOG then removed from the internet only to be saved in Google’s cache. It details the fake arrest of the graffitist - even “revealing” his name and age as 39-year-old Paul William Horner.
And as with most internet hoaxes, the media picked it up and went to town - only to issue corrections and retractions hours later.
And those who fell for the hoax only have themselves to blame for not fact checking first, according to a writer for BetaBeat:
“The document is riddled with inconsistencies, including quotes from fake CNN and BBC stories and an incorrect identification of the London Chief of Police, who the press release claims to quote. Furthermore, the email address for the press release is at the domain name IYWIB, a little-known humor site.”
The person or people behind the web deception have yet to come forward. So what’s the moral of the story? According to The Huffington Post:
“Banksy is an unstoppable force of nature and he should never be underestimated, much less thought to possess such a prosaic name as ‘Paul’? Or maybe that trolls will be trolls, even in the art world, and we should collect more information instead of jumping at easy bait.”
In actual Banksy news, a mural that was moved from London to Florida is set to be sold at an auction in Miami. The mural shows a boy sewing a Union Jack flag, and is expected to fetch $ 700,000.
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